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tv   Glenn Beck  FOX News  July 5, 2009 5:00am-6:00am EDT

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nosaurs laugh] sid: [laughs] ha ha, no, stop, stop. happy fourth of july. captioned by, closed captioning services, inc. >> i'm greta van susteren. and over my right shoulder is the beautiful dome of the united states capitol, home of our congress for nearly 200 years. since 1793, it has been built, burned, rebuilt, extended, and restored just like america. the vice president spent a lot of time here and for the first time in our history there must be a woman in that job. republican sarah palin, senator mccain's running mate. tonight, a look at the governor from alaska. some called her senator
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mccain's. americans are on the edge of their seats waiting to see how this election turns out. how does this woman, this governor, this wife, mother of five, if hockey mom who hunts emerge into one of the most electricfying politicians today. home life with the governor, shot this past spring before she was chosen as senator mccain's running mate. but to know sarah palin we must first look west and north to alaska.
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in 1984 the democratic ticket featured he going ra geraldino as walter mondale's hundreding mate. >> the achievements of he goin raline in 1984 and, of course, senator hillary clinton. hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest hardest in america but it turns out the women of america aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all! [ applause ]
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>> and i was really quite surprised because in 24 years nobody has done that on a national team politically. >> she has strong principles, a fighting spirit. you know, my friends, this great governor grew up in a decent hard working middle class family. >> i was born in idaho so when i was three months old my folks moved up. >> fox news obtained this exclusive interview with governor sarah palin shot earlier this year just days before she gave birth to her fifth child. >> do you know what it is? >> a boy! >> in 1964, sarah was the third child born to chuck and sarah heath. joining sisters molly jane and heather. they would welcome another sibling, this time a baby brother chuck, jr. chuck senior was a track coach and science teacher. mother sarah, known as sally was a school secretary. sarah's father moved the family
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to alaska when she was three months old. >> they came up in 1964 to teach school in a very small town. he came up for the hunting and fishing and good outdoors life. the clean activity and environment offered here. >> chuck is energetic and wiry and just full of energy. in fact, in the summer time he would take the television out of the house and say go outside and play. >> kayleen johnson is the aah tore -- author of sarah. >> they would work for the neighbors and do chores like stack wood and work weeding gardens and that kind of thing. >> the entire family took to the great outdoors and reveled in the outdoor spirit. it is twice the size of texas and home to 2 29 volcanoes and more than half of the world's glaciers. father chuck took pride that
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sarah enjoyed hunting from an early age and often chased moose before school. >> we like game that is healthy and clean and we do a lot of hunting. >> after spending time? zag way and eagle river the family moved to wasala into this house on lucille street which is now a thrift store. >> it is a very small town 35 years ago. >> greta: the kind of town where everybody knows everybody and kristin met sarah in elementary school. >> there was one grocery store and one gas station and that's it. >> instrumental in the faith development of the family and took the kids to church and sent them to vacation bible school. >> greta: population 5500, wasilla is famous for its
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fishing and wildlife. sarah attended wasilla high school, home of the warriors and was the point guard and captain of the basketball team. >> i grew up involved in athletics and competition and things i learned through sports and competition come into play in this business every day. >> greta: she was so fierce on the court back then that she earned the nickname sarah barracuda. >> sarah says that basketball was life changing and taught her competition and fair play and also taught her humility. >> greta: sarah caught the attention of fellow student todd palin. >> todd is the quintessential alaskan. he was raised in part by his grandmother. >> greta: his family ran a local fishing business. they began dating. >> here in alaska we call him the first dude because that is
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more fitting. >> todd is incredibly supportive of sarah. yet at the same time he is a man's man, a private pilot. he worked from the north slope, runs an iron dog. >> greta: in 1982, sarah left, alaska, for the aloha state and began her college career at hawaii pacific university where she took business administration courses. after a semester there she returned to the mainland, this time to attend north idaho college with a general studies page. my dad had four kids in college at the same time. he was a school teacher, there is no way he would be able to pay for the college education. >> greta: she was a good student but financial struggles propelled her to compete in scholarship pageants. >> it was the attraction to the scholarship dollars offered. i could get up on the stage and play my flute, that was my talent and give a good interview and have that gown on and maybe be able to rake in
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scholarship money to pay my tuition through college. the whole swimsuit thing, i don't know if i would recommend that part of it now, no. looking back, we had a lot of nerve being up there on stage in front of a bunch of male judges in a swimsuit, all lined up for comparison. you had to turn and do a couple of revolutions in front of male judges. >> she was crowned miss wsailla in 1984 and then competed for the title of miss alaska. sarah came in second but won the college scholarship. she earned a bachelor's degrees in 1987 with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. sarah's relationship with todd continued to grow and a year after her college graduation they eloped to spare the families the cost of a wedding.
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>> they informed them that they needed witnesses to stand up for them at the wedding and they decided to go across the street to the nursing home and asked a couple of the residents there would you mind standing up for us at our wedding. one was in a walker and they went across the street and stood up for sarah and todd at the wedding. >> todd is a story all by himself. two decades and five children later he is still my guy. >> greta: coming up, how did governor sarah palin go from sports reporter to running for mayor in the rough and tumble world of smalltown politics?
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>> if all the basketball team got frantic this weekend. >> greta: 1988, sarah palin work ising as a sports caster for a local t.v. station in anchorage. when she wasn't reportion she helped out with husband todd's commercial fishing business. >> we do the rod and reel fishing but also commercial fish so we are out there on the water with our nets. a family event. >> fishing in the summer time so ask her who is -- >> he is the meanest most dominant boss you will ever, ever be privileged to work for when they are out on the. >> for the last twenty some years i got to call myself a commercial fisherman. we are raising our kids to be the next generation of fishermen. it is really cool because it really links you back to part of alaska's history. >> greta: by 1992, sarah had
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given birth to two children. a son who was given the name trek because of his parent's fondness for running and bristol, named after bristol bay, alaska, where todd grew. >> i there is a lot of energy, a lot of activity but thank the lord i have a very supportive family, a large family. tremendous amount of help all the time by grandparents, aunts and uncles. couldn't do it without my family, that network of support. >> thank you for that. >> thank you! >> drive careful in this. >> yeah, we have school. >> two years after bristol was born, sarah launched her political career when she ran for wasilla city councilwoman. >> i signed up for the pta because i wanted to make my kids public education even better. and when i ran for city council i didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because i knew the voters and i knew their families, too.
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>> there is a koasy relationship between -- cozy relationship between politics in alaska and people that bring the money that create the jobs which is mostly the oil industry. >> in 1992, sarah palin ran on a campaign of a new sales tax for this little community of wasilla and amazingly in this conservative no tax environment she won. she won, i think, because she is attractive, i don't mean necessarily in a physical sense but there is certainly that but she won because she is a fresh voice and an aggressive voice and speaks common sense. she also has a political instinct. >> she went door to door to people and talked to them about what they wanted in city government or in wasilla and a lot of times she had her two kids in a wagon in tow. during the second term she could see that nothing was
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going to change unless the leadership changed and so she ran for mayor and won fairly handily. >> greta: that was in 1996. she won the election by knocking off a three term incumbent. >> i was eledged mayor of my hometown where my agenda was to stop waste. spending and cut property taxes and put the people first! >> greta: sarah was 32 years old, earning $68,000 a year. >> we are not going to do that. >> greta: she served for two terms. over the next six years she would take wasilla by storm. her dedicated, fierce and approach led to the revival of the nickname from high school, sarah barracuda. >> she wanted her people in place to push her social conservative agenda. >> what she was doing was exercising her right and privilege as the mayor to replace those people.
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>> close friend judy patrick met sarah when they dropped their children off at preschool. she was also the deputy at city hall. >> she asked them to submit letters of resignation which was interpreted as firing everybody. when she was elected i think she was replacing at that time what was considered some what of an old guard and they were on a path for development and spending a lot of the taxpayers' money which she is loath to and basically upset their apple cart. >> it is my favorite part of the day, it really is. hi, kids! >> being young and inexperienced and a mother of small children has always been a criticism that has been leveled against her from the time she wan for council member in wasilla.
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>> she embraced it and said yeah, i'm young, i'm inexperienced but how do you get experience? i guess you get on the job and get experience. it worked because she is aggressive and intelligent and courageous, utterly fearless. >> she knows what she wants. she is a very focused and driven individual. >> diane keller succeeded sarah as mayor of wasilla. >> she works hard and rolls up her sleeves and gets the job done. >> reporter: with palin at the helm, wasilla boomed. during her tenure, the operating budget increased by almost $2 million. she improved infrastructure and beefed up the local police department. there was also reason to celebrate at home. >> say bye bye. >> i'll call you right back. >> greta: by 2001, todd and then 37-year-old sarah welcomed two new additions to their family. daughters willow and piper.
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>> i love it. >> greta: today, as it was back then, the palins remain very tight knit. >> if he is away at work things get a little more hectic but when is home he takes care of the domestic stuff in the morning. braids piper's hair and gets everybody ready to go if i'm working. >> greta: by 2002, sarah was riding out a second term. >> she was making a wave and a name for herself. >> party leaders encouraged her to enter the race for the republican nomination for lieutenant governor. >> she was young and articulate and attractive and the antithesis of the good 'ole boy network. >> greta: governor palin drops the hockey gloves but there are
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>> greta: 2002. serena williams defeats her sister venus and wins the french open. "wall street journal" reporter daniel pearl is kidnapped and murdered and president bush addresses the united nations. >> saddam hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger. >> as the world watched and waited, sarah palin was in the middle of her second term as mayor of her hometown wasilla. she had run a bit of a maverick campaign and the republican party began to look at her as a potential statewide politician. >> she decided to run for low temperature governor and entered into the race against people that really are your friends and all of a sudden the
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competitors because you are going for the same goal. >> it was a grass roots campaign. did it out of the car and out of her brief case. she just went and talked to the people. >> fund raising was difficult because the fact that the other people were very well known and she essentially wasn't. >> greta: she fought hard and campaigned even hard. thank you so much. >> greta: but a mere 2,000 votes kept her from clinching the republican party's nomination. >> i would be naive to think that it is as easy for a woman i think in this man's world of alaska's politics. i think a woman has to work that much harder to prove herself and it's a challenge. >> greta: the 38-year-old mother of four once again sought refuge and come court in
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her husband. >> i said you are destined for bigger things. >> she attracted attention and got name recognition. the governor appointed her to the alaska oil and gas conservation commission which has pretty much chief responsibility for monitoring how the industry here is being regulated. >> greta: the 2003 appointment would thrust palin into the lime light. >> she had principal responsibility for ethics. she took note that a number of people in the republican party who were on that commission with her were using their offices for party business. there were other kinds of things going on. >> greta: the main offender, gop chairman and fellow commissioner randy ruddrick. >> she talked to him about the things and nothing came from it so she went up the chain of command to try and remedy the situation.
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>> greta: in november of 2003 the state began its official investigation into rudrick. three days after he resigned but wasn't formally accuse. >> she waited to see what would happen and nothing did. >> greta: frustrated and disillusioned, sarah left her post. >> she stepped out as an independent. the party did not support her blowing the whistle on the party undertaking corrupt activities and so she parted company at it with the party organization in alaska. >> ruddrick settled with the state by paying a record $12,000 civil fine, admitting misconduct. >> she was hugely successful, not only was the party chair forced to resign, but the state attorney general was forced to resign also. >> she talked to the press about what her experience had been once she was allowed to do so. that was a turning point in her career in a sense that she stood up in a big way.
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>> greta: she was praised as a hero in the press and in the eyes of the public. >> this was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office when i took on the old we put the government of ourow, state back on the side of the people. >> greta: just ahead as the governor's career soars, some other family struggles. other family struggles. a bitter custody battle between ( thump ) yes. ( thump ) yes. ( thumps ) yes, yes... and yes. so you really do have america's largest push to talk coverage area. yes. ok, we're going to need a lot more darts... ...and a new map. switch to verizon wireless owner of the nation's largest push to talk network coverage area
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to shut down diarrhea and its discomfort. stop it fast with kaopectate. >> a baby coming into this house, people have asked me, well, how are you going to do it, be governor while you have young kids and i say the same way every other governor has done it je. >> greta: this is exclusive fox news coverage showing a beaming sarah shortly before she gave birth to her fifth child trig. >> it has been extraordinarily comfortable and easy, this pregnancy.
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i hid it until last month. my abs were tight. >> greta: at this time, sarah and todd nutrition would have special needs as a down's syndrome child. >> there it confusion and a lot of energy and a lot of activity but thank the lord i have a very supportive family, a large family, tremendous amount of help all the time by grandparents, aunts and uncles. couldn't do it without my family, that network of support. >> greta: alaska's first family had no idea that mom was about to be thrust into the national spot light. >> what is governor -- piper. >> i don't glow tell me what you want to be when you grow up? >> a babysitter. >> a babysitter. what do i do? what do you see me doing during the day?
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>> accomplishing what, though? what am i doing on the computer? >> greta: sarah palin began to catch national interest after taking down corrupt public officials. some were political rivals. >> people started saying hey, wait a minute, why don't you run for office, why don't you become the next governor. >> greta: that is what she decided to do, but palin faced a tough fight to become the 11th governor of alaska and its first woman governor. running in 2006, she faced off in a memorable series of three-way debates, alaska style. former three-time u.s. senator and incumbent governor republican frank murkowski, fairbanks businessman, john finkly and in the middle the hockey mom turned politician. >> keeping the oil industry the way it has been for 30 years. >> you know, guys, we owe alaskans a better discourse.
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>> i agree. >> sarah with a firm voice said guys, you know what, and everything got quiet and she said you know, alaskans deserve a better discourse than this. >> greta: sarah palin became governor with 51% of the votes and won the hearts of alaskans with her first official act. >> one of the first things that she did was she put his jet up on ebay for sale. frank murkowski's jet was symbolic of everything that was wrong in the republican party in alaska at that time. it was an indulgences that was unnecessary. >> greta: palin vetoed nearly a quarter billion dollars in projects from the state capital budget in 2007 and took on big oil by boosting taxes on their profits. todd quit his job as a north slope production supervisor for
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bp when his wife the governor began negotiations for a natural gas pipeline. >> my job as the administrator and c.e.o. of the state is to make sure that we are maximizing the benefits for alaskans. >> you know, this is no advice that i would give her. she is professional. she is -- i mean the woman has run for office, got an 80% approval rating already in alaska. my advice to joe biden for the debate is please take a look at her tape. >> we tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in scranton and another way in san francisco. >> and let's talk if you want because she's very good and he's got to be -- he's got to be careful. >> greta: but there was a
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scandal in alaska making headlines for sarah palin called troopergate. >> it's annoying for her, i'm sure. but i don't think that people are request go -- are going to be able to make much out of it. >> greta: sarah's sister molly is in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody fight. it was alleged they fired the safety commissioner after he refused to fire molly's ex-husband. reportedly todd palin met and insisted the firing. a report from the legislature is due before election day. >> there we go. [ laughter ] >> he is in charge of troopers.
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he loves you and he is down here to make sure that you are given the equipment that you need. >> greta: die andiane keller ie current mayor of wasilla and believes the governor is the -- sarah palin is the right person for the governor's job. >> she will stand firm on her conviction no matter what the issue is. we are the united states of america and it seems like lately we are the divided states of america. >> greta: the governor and her family step into the political spotlight and nasty rumors emerge about the birth of the governor's son trig. how does the governor fight back? gecko vo: geico's the third-largest
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the next vice president of the united states, governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska! [ applause ] >> greta: it was the best kept secret so far in the 2008 campaign. >> i will be honored to serve next to the next president of the united states. >> greta: since the announcement, governor sarah palin a virtual unknown on the national stage has been a lightning rod for personal attacks. >> i, john mccain the only one standing between the blood
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thirsty al-qaedas and you, but if i die this stewardess can hand it will. >> is she the sing the most qualified person given the fact that he is 72 and has had cancer four times. >> he tried to make her look like she is trailer trash. >> we should be talk about her accomplishments. >> greta: accomplished women voiced their outrage. rarene amor is angry. >> you wouldn't say to barack obama who is going take care of your kids while you are going. please, that was so sexist. >> former governor of massachusetts, jane swift. >> when we apply different standards to governor palin than we apply to senator joe biden. >> greta: former u.s. treasurer rosario. >> they questioned her
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motherhood and how could she be a good mother when she was running for vice president. i thought sexism was over in america and clearly it was not. >> it is time for all women to take a stand and say wait a minute, guys, backoff. >> greta: as the first woman to run for vice president in 1984, fox news contributor geraldine ferraro has a unique outing. >> when i hear people say why isn't she home? what would she be doing at home? she is a talented contributing member. what would she be doing at home? silly. >> greta: what the governor and her husband do at home is the same as any working american family. to your best to keep family time together. >> thank you. >> thank you! >> todd, did bristol call you? >> we're going to lay that out for dinner. you don't have to put things away. >> i always dealt with pressure
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a couple of ways. one, physically is i have always been real active in sports, even as an old pregnant lady today, like yesterday i had to get to the gym, i had to sweat, i had to work out some of the protesters he sure and the -- some of the pressure and stress that comes with the job naturally. so physically that is what i do. i work out. i either jog or lift weights. >> when i ran for office and asked people to give me the job as governor to elect me, i said oh, by the way, i've got a family. oh, he's going to love this, piper, what is that? >> what is it again? disney channel. >> soo you can watch t.v. see, though are inundated. hollywood, disney. that is what they think the world is. >> she has. >> she has. >> she has. >> she has a girlfriend. >> who is -- he has a girlfriend. >> who is the girlfriend. >> it gives a certain bit of credibility for any woman in
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the workforce at any job but it also tells little girls, you know, you can be whatever you want to be and it's true. >> i have helpers. i have these kids that are expected to help. she does have to do her homework, though. >> just another couple minutes. >> you want a hamburger to go or? >> no, i'm fine, thank you. thank you very much. >> you hungry? >> todd, the man the governor calls first dude enjoys being mr. mom. >> i think in today's society you see more and more dads change diapers and switch roles and, you know, for myself when i was for a short period of time and sarah was working full time and i had the kids that is the real job, motherhood so going back to work was a
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vacation. >> todd grew up where there was an expectation that he was going to help his mom and he helped raise siblings also. he loves being a dad as much as i love being a mom. >> working women are dealing with families throughout this country. if i didn't make it home for dinner, my husband was there. >> greta: when this video was shot last april, sarah was pregnant with her fifth child trig, a child who would have special needs. >> do you know what it is? >> a boy. >> are you happy? >> are you? you better be. >> kind of. >> you like brothers. you love your big brother. >> when i had piper seven years ago, i was mayor and manager of a city here in alaska and i had her on march 19th a monday and i was back at work on march 20th the next day, brought her to work with me and brought her to work with me every day until she really started waking
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up and being like a little infant and then, of course, worked out the daycare and schedules that if all goes well, i'll do the same thing this time. i will have this child and no that i can accomplish -- and know that i can accomplish my job. i look forward to next month bringing a new one into the world. >> greta: one of the governor's friends is also the governor of hawaii. >> governor, nice to have you join us. >> thank you, greta, aloha. >> indeed, aloha to you. >> the governors were together at a conference in dallas the day palin went into labor with trig. >> and we were at a conference on energy issues. she filled in at the last minute for one of the speakers. gave an outstanding speech on energy issues. she that day, greta, went into labor with her fifth child. flew home to alaska, delivered her son trig the next day. she is one very stuff individual and yet she is very
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gracious as well. >> we were so blessed in april, todd and i welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named trig. and children with special needs inspire a very, very special love. >> greta: more just ahead on our fox news special on governor sarah palin an american woman. want to know how fast it took my stiff joints to feel better?
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>> age 45. >> struck, in -- >> on the eve of the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the palins are serving their country, inlandest son trek joined the army last year and was on his mother's mind last april. >> he is 18 and the youngest fellow, the youngest soldier in the stryker bra grade and they will be de-- brigade and they will be deploy today iraq it sounds like in the fall. i did support america's mission there. basically bottom line, keeping the bad guys outside of our homeland and protecting our democracy and our predom and i'm hoping that we have a sensible exit plan. he chose to serve for the right reasons. he knew that he even at age 18
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could do what he can do to protect america. >> greta: and governor palin made sure america knows nothing has changed now that she is a vice presidential nominee. >> i'm just one of many moms who will stay an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way. our son track is 19 and one week from tomorrow, september 11th he will deploy to iraq with the army infantry in the service of his country. >> greta: in 2007, palin visited the alaska national guard in kuwait. >> thank you guys so much for all your good work. >> greta: like john mccain, she supported the surge which andbarved itself in al sals province. a vice presidential nomination, a new baby, a son leaving for iraq and just recently, news that her 17-year-old daughter bristol is pregnant.
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bristol plans to mary the baby's father this year. >> from the inside no family ever seems typical and that is how it is with us. our family has the same ups and downs as any other. the same challenges and the same joys. sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. >> greta: senator john mccain warmly greeted palin's expanding family. but it did not stop vicious spears. >> the down syndrome child trick that sarah is the mother of she is actually the grandmother of. >> greta: rumors that trig was not her baby but was her daughter's were shocking. >> your people were not involved in any way in this and they will not be and if i thought that there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that they would be fire.
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>> i accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend america and i accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election against confident opponents at a crucial hour for our country. >> greta: stay with us here on the fox news channel for more of our exclusive look at governor sarah palin.
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welcome home, man. >> greta: this will be an historic election of firsts. whether our country chooses senator john mccain or
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senator barack obama for our 44th president, voters will elect either the first african american as president or the first woman vice president. governor sarah palin might break open what senator hillary clinton said were the 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling. as we have seen this week, the alaskan governor sarah palin clearly speaks north to the future but will it be as it always has been? your choice to decide. i'm greta van susteren for fox news. good night from washington, d.c. captioned by, closed captioning services, inc.

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